The next day Apple Bloom was in school, although her attention wasn’t on the lessons as her thoughts remained primarily on what she had overheard from Reiver the night before. Currently it was recess and she was sitting in a secluded area of the school playground with her friends, having explained what she had heard.
“So…last night, you heard Reiver talking to somepony else,” said Scootaloo.
“Eeyup,” replied Apple Bloom.
“…and overheard that he’s stolen something from Twilight, something that was his already and is all that he has left of his mum?”
“Eeyup.”
“Are you sure he wasn’t just talking to himself?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Ponies sometimes do that when they need to think.”
“I don’t know, Sweetie Bell,” replied Apple Bloom. “It kinda sounded like he was talking to himself, but it was like if ya tried ta impersonate somepony but couldn’t get their voice quite right.”
“Are you sure you’re not hearing things? Maybe you just really want him to have been talking to somepony.”
“I’m not hearing things!” she snapped.
“Okay, okay!” replied Sweetie Belle, raising her hooves defensively.
“Um, Apple Bloom,” said Scootaloo cautiously. “You have been holding a grudge against him for a while now. Maybe it’s time you stopped? It’s not like you to be angry at somepony for this long.”
“I know!” she snapped back, only to deflate when she saw her friend wince at the action. “I know…it’s not like somepony ta rub me the wrong way, but this guy gave me the worst day of my life.”
“We know,” replied Sweetie Belle.
“Then he bribed me fer a book on magic? Ya got ta be soft in the head not ta be suspicious of that.”
“But we didn’t find anything suspicious when we tried spying on him.” replied Scootaloo.
“‘Cept fer those eyes,” shuddered Apple Bloom.
“Which we can’t really explain,” continued Sweetie Belle. “They could have been a trick of the light.”
“…Maybe,” replied Apple Bloom, still a little unconvinced.
“Have you even talked to the guy?” asked Scootaloo. “Like, properly? He seems like a nice colt, maybe you just need to give him a chance.”
Apple Bloom went silent as she thought over her friends words, it was true that she had only really talked to Reiver once on her own, but she hadn’t really learned anything about him as a pony. In fact, she hadn’t really gotten to know the colt at all and had come to a lot of her own conclusions based off her grudge. If she ever wanted to have some sort of closure on who he was, then she would have to talk to him pony to pony, an idea she did not relish.
“Yer right, Scootaloo,” she admitted reluctantly. “It’s not like me to hold onto a grudge like this.”
“So you’re going to talk to him?”
“I am,” replied Apple Bloom.
“Good to hear,” said Sweetie Belle. “Maybe you can convince him to come crusading with us. I wish we could be there, but we’re still grounded.”
“Yeah, but I’m gonna play it safe and take some precautions.”
“Precautions?” replied Sweetie Belle nervously.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
While the three fillies debated the type of precautions that didn’t include a wooden stake and mallet, Nurse Redheart was trotting up the path to the schoolhouse, a set of hospital saddlebags over her back. Reaching the entrance, she rapped her hoof on the door in a business-like manner.
“Come in,” replied a cheerful voice.
Pushing open the door, Nurse Redheart entered Ponyville’s schoolhouse, it wasn’t a large building and its interior consisted of only one large classroom with a few smaller back rooms for storing equipment and supplies. To her left was a line of desks suited for the fillies and colts playing outside, while to her right was the blackboard and teachers desk. Currently seated behind it was Ponyville’s resident teacher, Cheerilee. Anyone that knew the purple mare could tell you she was as cheerful as her name suggested, especially when her students were involved. Her mane was two soft tones of purple and pink while her cutie mark was three smiling sunflowers, a sign that she hoped to make her students bloom.
As Redheart made her way to the desk, Cheerilee looked up from a pile of work she had been marking.
“Hello there, Redheart!” she said brightly. “It’s been a while since we last saw each other.”
“It has, hasn’t it?” replied the nurse. “How is Featherweight doing these days?”
“He seems much happier now you took off his cast; it threw off his balance whenever he was flying.”
“Better he endure some wonky flying in the short term, then an infection in the long run. But he’s not why I’m here.”
“Oh?” replied Cheerilee.
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but recently the Apples took in a colt they found starving in their barn.”
“My goodness!” she exclaimed. “Is he alright?”
“He’s as alright as any colt that lived homeless in the Everfree Forest can be,” replied Redheart bluntly, causing Cheerilee to gasp.
Reaching into her saddlebags, Redheart pulled out a file and passed it to the teacher.
“I wasn’t able to get his name, but this is everything I could find out, and it isn’t much beyond his physical condition and an apparent phobia of doctors.”
Opening the folder, Cheerilee read through the information, her heart sinking at the extent of the colt’s condition. However, she took solace that it had been the Apple family that had found him, if anypony could help him get better, it was them.
“Which brings me to my current predicament,” continued Redheart. “Due to his phobia I have been advised that moving him to the hospital is out of the question. Therefore, his welfare is left to the Apples. However, I still need somepony to observe and report on his condition, as well as aid in his psychological recovery.”
Cheerilee could sense where this was going and looked up from the file.
“Why not assign a qualified Social Worker? I’m sure they are far more qualified than me.”
“That’s the problem,” sighed Redheart. “As he is afraid of doctors, then he might panic if he even suspects we have him under observation. You have experience in looking after colts and fillies of his age and you are not associated with the hospital.”
Redheart moved closer and put a hoof on Cheerilee's shoulder causing the mare to look her in the eye.
“Please, Cheerilee, if I had my way he would be under observation in a hospital wing, but thanks to the Apples that’s not going to happen. We’ve already had a near miss and I need to monitor his recovery somehow to ensure this doesn’t happen again. I won’t lose a patient while there’s a single thing I can do to help them, even if that help has to be long distance.”
Cheerilee re-read Reiver’s file, musing over this information as she picked out the ‘near miss’ from the information. From what Redheart had said, she was in a bit of a bind as her desire to help a patient in need conflicted with her professionalism, especially since file described several possible health problems based on her observations. The teacher smiled a little at the thought that despite her professional attitude, Redheart ultimately cared for her patients, even if she came off as a little cold.
“Alright,” she said, closing the file. “I’ll help, but I don’t want you hounding me for daily updates on his condition.”
“Thank you,” sighed Redheart in relief. “How soon can you see him?”
“I’m going to see the Apples tonight, actually,” replied Cheerilee. “Big Macintosh has a woodcarving I commissioned ready for collection, so I’ll see how he’s doing then.”
“Perfect”, replied Redheart as she gathered up the file. “I’ll get out of your mane in that case; come see me after your visit and let me know how he’s doing. I’ll have a copy of this file made up for you.”
“Thank you. I’ll call at the hospital when I’m done.”
With a wave of farewell, Nurse Redheart exited the school and trotted back to Ponyville General.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Back at the Apple household, Reiver was having problems.
After sleeping for most of the day he had gotten up with a mouth like sandpaper and went for a drink, but while swilling the cool liquid around his mouth he experienced an intense stab of pain.
Further investigation now had him now standing in front of the bathroom mirror examining the grubby mess that was his teeth, he had attempted to clean them up with a spare toothbrush the Apples had provided, but the clearly rotten stump that stuck out near the back of his mouth indicated that he had not been successful.
“Great,” he muttered. “I can’t hide this at mealtimes; I’m going to have to go the dentist.”
He hadn’t raised the issue of his teeth with Applejack after she found him and it was clear that Nurse Redheart hadn’t seen fit to tell her anything after his little fainting spell, probably because she was more concerned with his survival at the time. When he brought this up it meant he would have to actually leave the house and go into Ponyville, this type of work wasn’t something that could be done in a house call.
He sighed, dentists weren’t so bad but they still made him nervous, he shuddered as the thought caused a memory to surface of his final ever visit to a hospital.
“Not again,” he said to himself. “I won’t be used like that again.”
Burying it as best he could, the colt left the bathroom and returned to his bed. Slumping down onto the mattress, he listened to the subtle creaking of the building timbers as they settled in the cold weather.
He almost wished he had somepony to talk to but Granny Smith, who had been left to watch him, was napping in her rocking chair downstairs and with Winona back out helping Applejack and Big Macintosh, he was very bored.
Then his mood brightened as he remembered something.
Emptying his pockets, he retrieved his IPOD from the tangle of its earpiece cables. He hadn’t been using it out of a desire to keep its existence a secret as well as to preserve the battery. However, with the knowledge that he was (somewhat) secure in the Apple household, he decided to risk a few songs.
Slipping the earpieces into his new pony ears proved a challenge, but he eventually managed it after several tries. Activating the device, he gently scrolled through the music selection with a hooftip, as the device was a few years old it still had a scroll wheel that responded to his hoof better than the touch screen on his IPhone had to Twilight’s.
Selecting a piece he knew well, Reiver decided to settle in and listen. It didn’t take long for the music’s infectious nature to take over and he found himself singing along quietly to a few songs. Soon he was so wrapped up in his own little concert that he didn’t hear the door open and was startled out of his headspace by the sound of hooves rapping on the wooden door.
Standing in the doorway was a nervous-looking Apple Bloom. She also had a ring of something around her neck.
“Are those…carrots?”
The farm filly blushed.
“Garlic was too expensive,” she mumbled.
“Oookay…was there something you wanted?”
Apple Bloom paused; this was it, the point of no return. She could just run back to her room and slam the door and forget why she was doing this, but she knew if she didn’t stand her ground then she would regret it. So, taking a deep breath to calm herself, she started talking.
“Last night ya left yer door open and I heard ya talkin ta somepony.”
Reiver froze, silently panicking as Apple Bloom started to pace, always keeping the door within easy sprinting distance if she needed to make a hasty exit.
“I don’t know who it was, but ya mentioned yer ma and something about a box she gave ya’ll, now I don’t know exactly what’s going on with you, but I have ta know, right now.”
She stopped and pointed a hoof at him.
“I’ve tried ta be nice ever since ya’ll got here, but the truth is I’ve been holding a mighty grudge against ya after ya threw my breakfast everywhere, ya’ll caused me ta have the worst day of my life. Then ya bribed me ta get that magic book, which got me wondering why ya needed it if ya’ll can’t DO magic, and then ya eyes turn yellow right in front of me. My friends and family think ya’ll are some lost colt, but I think there’s more to ya. Right now I think yer some kinda monster, but my friends don’t. So tell me who ya’ll really are and who ya were talking to or I swear I will find out by myself, and if ya’ll try stopping me I will scream so loud Granny WILL wake up.”
As the filly finished her rant, Reiver was dumbstruck, he had been sure the door was shut last night but he must have forgotten to confirm it in his haste to check the box. Now she had him by his neck and he wasn’t sure how to get out of it. He could always lie, but at this stage, with what she knew, it might not make much of a difference.
“Cat’s out of the bag now,” said a voice that Reiver really didn’t want to hear.
He turned to see Bedlam’s watercolour on the wall, but what surprised him was that Apple Bloom was also staring at it in panic. Faster than he thought possible, he closed the distance between himself and the frightened filly and clamped his hoof over her mouth right before she was about to scream.
“Don’t,” he whispered frantically. “Please, don’t. If you do we will be in so much trouble that I don’t even want to imagine what will happen. Give me a chance to explain and I swear I will be nothing but honest with you from now on.”
He looked Apple Bloom in the eye, whether it was fear or curiosity that drove her he wouldn’t know, but she nodded in affirmation.
Slowly removing his hoof, Reiver turned to face her.
“Wha…wha…what is that?” she stammered.
“I don’t know,” sighed Reiver. “But more to the point, you can see him?”
“Of course she can see me,” replied Bedlam. “I keep telling you that I’m not a hallucination.”
“You don’t get to talk!” he snapped. “I wouldn’t be in this mess if you hadn’t decided to show up, so keep quiet and let me talk to Apple Bloom you half-baked work of fiction!”
Bedlam recoiled slightly at the sudden forcefulness of the declaration, composing himself the strange being sat back and gestured for him to continue.
Turning back to Apple Bloom, Reiver started his explanation.
“To answer your question, I’m not sure what he is, and neither does he.”
“What do ya mean ya’ll don’t know?” replied the farm filly in confusion.
“He just appeared one night,” he replied. “I thought he was Discord playing a trick but apparently that’s not the case. Even he doesn’t know what he is and I’m inclined to believe him despite the fact he’s something of an insufferable jerk.”
“Hey!” said Bedlam.
“Shut it!” Rever snapped. “As for me, it would take too long to explain everything, but I am not here by choice. There was a storm…and I got caught in it. I don’t really remember much, there was…a lot of colours, like I was in a tornado made of rainbows. Then I hit something, hard.”
He sat wearily against the bed.
“I remember waking up to pain and a lot of rain; I staggered out into the forest and spent the next few weeks in a living hell.”
He turned to the farm filly, who was still sat by the door listening to his story.
“So, where are ya’ll from?”
“That…that might take a while to explain…”
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Applejack was busy dragging several barrels of cider to her apple cellar when she heard an unexpected voice from above.
“Hello, anypony there?”
Pulling herself up the stairs the farm pony popped her head through the door and saw Cheerilee standing by the farmhouse door wearing a set of saddlebags.
“Over here, Cheerilee!” she cried.
“Ah, hello there, Applejack,” she replied trotting over to the cellar doors. “I was afraid I had missed everypony.”
“Don’t worry Cheerilee, there’s always one Apple on the tree round here,” replied Applejack with a chuckle.
“I suppose there is,” replied Cheerilee with a laugh of her own.
“So what can I help ya’ll with today? I hope Apple Bloom’s not in any trouble?”
“Actually, I’m here so talk to you about the colt that was recently taken into your care. Nurse Redheart came by the school today and asked if I would act as his social worker.”
Applejack tensed slightly; Redheart hadn’t mentioned a social worker when she had said she would make Applejack Reiver’s guardian. But it would make sense that she would get somepony else to monitor Reiver with the Apples, with the farm to run they couldn’t monitor him all the time. Though she was still sceptical of Nurse Redheart’s motives in getting somepony else involved, she knew and trusted Cheerilee which is probably why she had been asked over one of the hospital staff.
“Really?” she replied. “Didn’t know ya’ll were a social worker and a teacher.”
“It’s not something everypony knows about,” she replied. “I did an internship at Ponyville General when I was young, working with social services. It’s actually where I got my cutie mark.”
“That sounds like an interestin’ story” replied Applejack.
“It certainly was for Dr. Stable,” chuckled Cheerilee. “Redheart explained to me that Reiver has a phobia of doctors, so she thought I might be of help as he might react negatively to social worker.”
“But…aint that what ya’ll are now?”
“Only in an unofficial capacity,” replied Cheerilee. “I am a teacher first and foremost; Redheart just wants me to make sure he recovers properly and that there are no issues.”
“Issues?” replied Applejack.
“She told me he had been living in the Everfree Forest, she wants to make sure he is recovering properly, both physically and mentally.”
“Now, hold on,” replied Applejack. “He’s been here fer a week or so now and apart from one major incident I haven’t seen anything wrong with him. I sleep just down the hall and if there were anything wrong I would know.”
“Applejack,” replied Cheerilee disapprovingly. “You know that foals don’t always tell their parents everything. I’m sure Apple Bloom hasn’t immediately told you about every problem she’s faced.”
The farm pony rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly; Apple Bloom had indeed done just that on a number of occasions, and the most recent had been when her cousin Babs came to stay, although that had thankfully ended with the pair as firm friends.
“All right, I see yer point.” she replied, hauling herself out of the apple cellar. “I can trust ya’ll not ta be too direct with him? Nurse Redheart was a little forceful.”
“Don’t worry, Applejack" she replied. "You know how much I love seeing my students happy, he has nothing to fear.”
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Reiver had just finished telling his story to Apple Bloom, who now sat there silently with an expression that would probably be somewhere between fear and curiosity. He hadn’t told her everything; the knowledge that her world was a work of fiction where he came from might just break the poor filly’s mind, and so he had instead given her a partial truth, explaining his species and going into how he had arrived in more detail. Right now all he could do was sit silently and hope that she didn’t scream and/or run off to find her sister.
“So…let me get this straight,” said Apple Bloom after an uncomfortably long silence. “Yer from another world and yer not a pony”
“Yes.”
“Ya normally look like a shaved bear and are called ‘hoo-mans”, but you were turned inta a colt.”
“Yes.”
“Ya’ll were brought here by some kinda magical storm with yer cart-”
“Car.”
“Car, sorry.”
“Yes.”
“Yer not sure why it happened, but ya want ta find out.”
“Yes.”
“Ya also want ta find a way home, but ya can’t do that without magical books.”
“Yes.”
“But ya’ll can’t read them, so ya need somepony who can.”
“Yes.”
“Okay…but there’s one thing I don’t get.”
“Which is?” asked Reiver.
“Yer eyes, I saw you in the kitchen the other night and they were yellow, but now they’re not.”
“That I can’t explain,” replied Reiver. “It could have been a trick of the light; it was dark and the fridge door was open behind me. But I am telling you now; I cannot change my eye colour nor am I some kind of daemon.”
Bedlam, who had been as silent as the watercolour he resembled, opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it and remained quiet. There was a reason that Reiver’s eyes had changed colour. The truth is that the strange creature had attempted to manifest himself for the second time, the first being the bathroom mirror. But instead of ‘projecting himself’, he had instead almost possessed the poor colt. For a brief second he had been able to see with Reivers eyes and he knew that his attempt was what caused Reivers collapse, privately he suspected that their respective lives were tied to each other somehow as almost as soon as the colt experienced his blackout, Bedlam had been severely drained to the point that he felt like he was fading into nothing, almost like somepony had just sucked out all his energy. He probably should have told Reiver this, but right now he was trying to get Apple Bloom to be sympathetic so he had remained silent and watched as the filly digested Reiver’s explanation.
“Okay, say I believe ya’ll,” she said. “Ya said that box of yours was part of some other stuff that Twilight was looking at. Why not just tell her who ya’ll really are? With all of that stuff she’s sure ta believe ya.”
“It isn’t that simple, Apple Bloom.” sighed Reiver. “Twilight is a genius, but she’s also a little unstable. I used to listen in on conversations when I was scrounging for food and I know about the ‘want it, need it’ spell.”
Apple Bloom blushed a little in embarrassment; she and her friends had been the first victims of the aforementioned spell. Twilight had tried to set up a friendship problem so she could solve and then report it to Princes Celestia. The end result had been nearly the entire town chasing the doll she had used a focus.
“I am not having someone like that poke around with me until I am ready to come forward on my terms.” he finished resolutely.
“But ya know she’ll come after the box eventually, right?”
“I do, which is why I said ‘my terms’. If she comes here to see me then there’s less risk she’ll do anything rash; this is her friend’s house after all. If I decide not to reveal myself then the most I get is a scolding for stealing something from her, but I’d rather it not come to that. You already know this box was from my mum, I’d rather keep it close.”
“I…guess I can understand that.” she replied. “Applejack never goes anywhere without Pa’s old hat; she fixed and patched it so many times over the years but ya could never tell, ‘cause she’s actually quite good with sewing.”
“Really?” replied Reiver with a raised eyebrow. “Your ‘rough and ready’ sister is an expert seamstress?”
“I wouldn’t go that far; Rarity would have a fit if she saw the types of stitching I’ve seen.” giggled Apple Bloom. “But she always takes her time with that hat, never rushed herself and always made it look brand new.”
“Kind of like me with this,” he replied, showing her the box. “It’s made from olive wood; the symbols on the lid represent her religion but they’ve been worked into my family’s crest. But the writing is what I love most about it.”
“Why’s that?” she asked.
“It’s a saying that’s been in our family since its birth, “Virtue alone ennobles.” That phrase has always stuck with me because it means virtue is the only trait you need to be noble.”
“Wow…” replied Apple Bloom, slightly stunned. “So...if ya’ll don’t want ta go ta Twilight just yet, why not somepony else?”
“Because if I do I will either be branded a crackpot to be ignored, or a threat to be dealt with.” He gestured at Bedlam, who showed a notable lack of interest at this point. “Besides, with him floating around after me the latter is more likely, especially now I know he can be seen by others. Besides, would an adult believe you if you suddenly came home spouting stories of aliens and other dimensions?”
“Probably not,” replied Apple Bloom.
“There’s also something else to consider, “replied Reiver. “My father was in my car and we had a …disagreement. I don’t want to chance that he somehow could be here looking for me, although I personally hope he was vaporised when he flew out the door.”
“…That bad, was it?”
“You have no idea.”
“But what about him,” said Apple Bloom, gesturing at Bedlam. “Ya’ll say he showed up shortly after ya got here, ya must know something.”
“Unfortunately, no,” replied Bedlam, attentive now he had been mentioned. “Neither of us know what I am or where I came from. Heck I didn’t exist until a few weeks ago.”
“And it’s not like we can go to somepony for advice; remember what I said about being viewed as a threat. There’s no telling how others would react and I’d rather be able to offer some sort of explanation that might stop me being carted off to a dungeon cell or laboratory. So please, Apple Bloom, don’t tell anypony else.”
Apple Bloom looked from Reiver to Bedlam. Until now had anypony told her a similar story she would have dismissed it as fantasy, but Bedlam’s appearance had made her more susceptible to Reiver’s tale. He could still be lying, but something told her that this wasn’t an attempt to deceive her; being the sister of the Element of Honesty did have some advantages.
“Okay, I won’t tell no pony.”
“So you believe me?”
“Yes, I do,” she replied. “It all sounds crazy, but I believe ya.”
“Thank you,” sighed Reiver in relief.
“But, if I’m gonna help ya’ll get home, then we’ll need some extra hooves.”
Reiver was about to protest, but realised he had to concede that point to her, she was unlikely to know or be able find out everything he might need.
“Okay, but keep it small; I don’t want word getting around.”
“I can manage that,” she replied. “I’ve already got some ponies in mind.”
“Really?” replied Reiver “Who?”
As soon as the words left his lips the colt realised exactly whom she meant and promptly facehoofed while Bedlam burst out laughing.
“You want me to tell your friends, don’t you?”
“Eeyup.” she replied, slightly smug.
“…Fine, but you are all to Pinkie promise that you won’t tell a soul.”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye” replied Apple Bloom, going through the motions.
“...How do you do that without poking out your own eye?” asked Reiver, remembering his own attempt.
“Ya just get used to it after a while; helps ta live near Pinkie Pie.”
“I’ll bet,” he replied with a smirk.
“So, what was that thing ya’ll were listening to before?” she asked. “Kinda reminded me of DJ PON3’s headphones.”
“You mean this?” he replied, extracting his IPOD from his pockets. “It’s called an IPOD; it’s a portable music player.”
“Why’s it so small?” she asked. “I’ve seen records before and they are way bigger than that thing.”
“Well, where I come from we found a way to record music on smaller devices; do you have cassettes or CD’s here at all?”
The confused look on her face told him all he needed to know, but then again they might have something else that was their equivalent.
“Do you have anything that lets you listen to music when you’re out and about?”
“Uhhh…not really, although now I think about it Diamond Tiara was showin’ off some new crystally thing that played music last week, and by showing off I mean rubbing absolutely everypony’s face in it.”
“Okay, well this is something like that; I can store hundreds of music tracks on it and listen to them whenever I want.”
“That’s so cool! Can I hear some?” she asked.
“Sure, I’ve got some good ones on here.”
Trotting over, Apple Bloom sat by Reiver and took one of the earbuds, after a quick demonstration about how to wear it correctly, Reiver scrolled through the music tracks.
“Here one you might like" he said, pressing PLAY. "It’s a bit of country and western with a rock twist to it.”
Apple Bloom winced a bit as the guitar build to a crescendo that nearly deafened her, but she quickly found herself nodding along to beat with Reiver as the lyrics started.
“This is really cool!” she replied, just a little louder than normal.
“I know!” he replied with a smile. “This version was mixed for a movie about a Ghost Rider.”
“Really? That sounds awesome.”
“Not as awesome as you might think,” he muttered as the song came to a close.
Removing the earbud, Apple Bloom turned to face the colt as he put away the IPOD, there was a brief moment of silence between the two where she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.
“I’m sorry fer treating ya so cold like; I don’t normally hold a grudge like that.”
“It’s okay,” he replied. “I might have acted the same way if somepony had just dumped my breakfast on my head.”
“So…friends?” she said, offering a hoof.
“Friends,” he replied, bumping it with his own.
“Sorry to break up this heart-warming scene”, Bedlam’s voice cut through the moment. “But there’s somepony coming.”
Indeed the pair could hear the sounds of approaching hoofsteps from the hallway and quickly hid the IPOD. With a spash of colour Bedlam also dissappeared just before the door opened to reveal Applejack and Cheerilee.
“Hey there, young’uns” said Applejack cheerfully. “Nice ta see ya’ll getting along.”
“Hi, Applejack,” replied Reiver nervously. “We were just talking about-”
“I was apologising,” interrupted Apple Bloom. “I’ve been kinda a jerk ta him since we met and I wanted ta apologise.”
Applejack smiled.
“Glad ta hear it Apple Bloom; I didn’t like seein’ ya be so suspicious of somepony else. Now maybe ya can get ta know him a bit better.”
Apple Bloom smiled back at her sister; right now she knew probably knew the colt better than she did.
“So, what’s Miss Cheerilee doing here?” she asked.
“I came over to pick up a wood carving I commissioned from Big Macintosh.” said Cheerilee.
“Applejack mentioned that she was looking after a sick colt, so I asked if I could meet him.’
She looked over at Reiver with her warmest smile, causing him to tense up yet again. He wanted to believe she was being sincere, but his gut was saying that her visit was more likely because Apple Bloom was grounded, or she had been speaking to the Nurse from a few nights ago. But there was only one way to find out.
“I’m Cheerilee, Apple Bloom’s teacher.” she continued, moving closer to where he sat. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“H…Hi,” he stammered nervously. “Did that nurse send you to take me away?”
To her credit Cheerilee did not react, she was used to dealing with children and as Redheart had made him aware of his phobia, she decided to leave her out of the equation for now. She was here as a teacher and a concerned pony, not one of the hospital staff. A half-truth, it was better than scaring the poor colt in their first meeting.
“Sweetie, I’m not here because somepony ordered me to be, if you’re going to be at Applejack’s for a while then you might have come to school. I just wanted to get to know you like I do all my students, just ask Apple Bloom.”
Reiver glanced over to the farm filly, who was smiling broadly.
“It’s true; Miss Cheerilee is the best teacher ever! She wouldn’t lie to ya’ll.”
Reiver looked back to the teacher who was waiting expectantly for him to speak.
“Okay…” he said quietly. “I’m Reiver.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Reiver. Are you enjoying your stay with Applejack?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “I like it out here, the farm is really quiet and I like Winona a lot.”
“Aint that the truth,” replied Applejack with a chuckle. “I don’t think I’ve seen her so eager ta finish work in my life.”
“Are you sleeping all right?” asked Cheerilee. “Applejack said you had been living in the Everfree Forest before she found you?”
“…not every night,” he confessed. “I keep waking up because something was usually out to eat me at night so I had to keep moving. I sometimes get nightmares too.” He shuddered.
“Nightmares?” said Applejack. “Why didn’t ya’ll tell me?
“…I didn’t want to bother you any more than I already have,” he replied. “You already feed me and have put a roof over my head; I just feel like such a useless burden right now.”
“Now look here, young un,” said Applejack as she sat beside him. “Ya’ll aint a burden and ya certainly aint useless. Ya helped Big Mac with those kitchen cabinets and Twilight told me how ya helped Spike with the dishes. I can get not wanting ta be useless, but nopony thinks that and if ya’ll can’t sleep because of some nightmares then ya gotta tell me.”
“…I’ll try Applejack, but I’m not used to relying on somepony else.”
“Well yer gonna have to until yer better,” she replied with a softer tone and smile that Reiver returned, she was a good mare, firm but fair, kind of like his mum had been.
While this was happening, Cheerilee observed the way the two interacted. The farmer had definitely decided that the colt was her responsibility, and it was clear that he seemed to like her. But he had problems relying on others, which was probably a result of his time in the Everfree Forest but she couldn’t be certain.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed something poking out from under the bed, reaching over she pulled it out with a hoof and saw it was a book on magical travel.
“I see you’re already studying,” she chuckled a little at her own joke, but stopped when she realised that Reiver was looking a little nervous.
“Are you alight dearie?” she asked.
“Y…yeah of course I’m alright, why wouldn’t I be,” he stammered.
“Is this something you’re interested in?”
“…Yes, but I don’t quite understand it.”
“I would imagine so; this is meant for Unicorns rather than Earth Ponies. Even simple books like this can become complicated when it comes to magic. Where did you get this anyway?”
She strained her ear as Reiver muttered something quietly.
“What was that dearie?”
“I…um…asked Apple Bloom to get it for me, I wanted to-”
“-he wanted to help us get cutie marks in teleportation,” interrupted Apple Bloom. “But he got frustrated with something so we gave up.”
“Really, what was it exactly?” asked Cheerilee. Once more Reiver mumbled his answer at such a volume that he could give Fluttershy a run for her money.
“I’m sorry dear, but I can’t hear you,” she said gently.
“….Applejack, would you mind backing off a little? This is kind of personal.” he said.
With a gentle nod Applejack backed away as Cheerilee slowly approached the colt, he motioned for her to lean in a bit closer and he whispered something to her which caused her to nod slowly in understanding. When she sat back, Reiver’s posture had become slumped and defeated.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” she said, gently placing a hoof on his shoulder.
“But it is,” he replied. “I don’t have one of the most basic skills needed and it’s driving me crazy!”
“Would you feel better if I taught you? I have some free time on weekends right now if you would like.”
As the pair talked, Applejack looked to her sister for an answer, but all she got was a shrug in return. Clearly Reiver had told Cheerilee something important that the teacher was willing to come back on a regular basis. It was also something that he didn’t feel comfortable sharing with her, and that made her a little sad. She watched as the colt said something quietly to Cheerilee, who then motioned for Applejack to follow her back out into the hall.
“Well young’uns, I reckon we’ve taken up enough of your time,” said Applejack. “We’ve got ta collect that carving so we’ll se ya’ll later.”
With a wave to the pair, the two ponies made their exit and headed downstairs,. When they reached the living room, Cheerilee turned to Applejack with a serious expression.
“Reiver can’t read.”
What?!” replied Applejack, her mind briefly blanking out from the statement. “How can a colt his age not know how ta read?”
“He wasn’t willing to say,” replied Cheerilee. “But he was so ashamed that he asked me to tell you instead of admitting it himself. I think he might have some confidence issues but this is a good opportunity for me to get to know him and keep an eye on his condition for Redheart.”
“Ah guess,” replied Applejack. “But ain’t you got lessons to prepare for?”
“Normally,” she replied. “But I seem to have gotten ahead of myself this year and have got a lot of free time on my hooves. This should also let me assess his current educational state and prepare him so we can avoid any misunderstandings when he starts attending school.”
“Whoa there,” replied Applejack. “Aint that getting a bit far ahead of ourselves? He’s still gotta get well enough ta go outside, might be a few months before we can even consider sending him ta school.”
“Why Applejack, are you being a little protective of Reiver?” replied Cheerilee in mock admonishment.
Applejack blushed in embarrassment, confirming the teacher’s earlier suspicions.
“I just don’t want ta take any chances,” she replied.
Cheerilee put a concerned hoof on her shoulder.
“Applejack, I understand you’re concerned for him, but he will get better and he will have to attend school. You can’t keep a foal cooped up inside all day; they’ve got too much energy.”
“Speaking from experience?”
Cheerilee chuckled a little at the joke.
“Okay,” sighed Applejack. “But we’ll need ta co-ordinate this with the family. I should be able ta do it this weekend and we can discuss longer term details then.”
“That’s fine,” she replied. “I’ll prepare some activities and bring over a few basic reading books you can keep here. By the time he’s well enough to attend school he will know everything he needs.”
“Thanks Cheerilee,” replied Applejack. “I’m glad that ya’ll care enough ta do this.”
“What type of teacher would I be if I didn’t care about my students’ well-being?” she replied. “Now, if you excuse me, I’ve got to get going: there’s a lot to do before the weekend.”